stprorolla49
Active Member
The last few times I've auto-x'ed my car, I've gotten a little frustrated with how much I float around in the seat. Side to side, the bolsters on the Bullitt seats are great, but getting on and off the gas so frequently throws me back and forth in the seat too much. Since I recently got laid off from my job, and money is tight, I figured while I'm searching for another design job, I'll keep my skills up. I decided that $300 for a Corbeau harness bar was ridiculous considering its just a few pieces of tubing and some brackets, so I'm making my own. Excuse my welding, sometimes it isn't pretty, I'm still learning. No better way than to get my hands dirty, right?
Here's what I've spent in materials so far:
$16 - 1.25" x 60" OD DOM tubing
$6 - 1/8" x 1.5" x 36" steel bar
$6 - 2 sawzall blades
FREE.99 - random metal for brackets that I had
FREE.99 - Grade 8 bolts
$27 - (4) 3/8" spherical rodends
I began to document the process after I started welding so there is no pics of the very beginning. I started by bending both ends of the tube on roughly a 30*-35* angle with my hydraulic tubing bender. Then I cut each end on a slant and welded the brackets to each end. These brackets mount to the upper seatbelt bolts.
After drilling the holes in the brackets, I test fit everything and my measurements were just about spot on.
Next I made 2 right angle brackets that mount to the bottom of the main bar. These brackets will have a tube attached to each one that runs down to the lower seatbelt mount where I fabbed up another pair of brackets. There will be 2 holes drilled in each; one bolts to the seatbelt bolt, the other is where the downtube mounts.
It will be easier to see once I get it a little further along but I haven't gotten to making the downtubes yet.
The main crossbar is done, I just need to fab a small camera mount for the center, and paint it up. I'm thinking about a matte black wrinkle finish paint or bumper coating. Here's where I am as of today including a few pics of it mocked up in the car:
I have a set of black Simpson 5-point harnesses that my dad gave me from his old race car with like 5 track days on them. NHRA requires new belts every 2 years even if they are in perfect condition so he had some lying around. Saved me a nice $100!
I will be updating this thread as I continue the project. Enjoy!
Here's what I've spent in materials so far:
$16 - 1.25" x 60" OD DOM tubing
$6 - 1/8" x 1.5" x 36" steel bar
$6 - 2 sawzall blades
FREE.99 - random metal for brackets that I had
FREE.99 - Grade 8 bolts
$27 - (4) 3/8" spherical rodends
I began to document the process after I started welding so there is no pics of the very beginning. I started by bending both ends of the tube on roughly a 30*-35* angle with my hydraulic tubing bender. Then I cut each end on a slant and welded the brackets to each end. These brackets mount to the upper seatbelt bolts.
After drilling the holes in the brackets, I test fit everything and my measurements were just about spot on.
Next I made 2 right angle brackets that mount to the bottom of the main bar. These brackets will have a tube attached to each one that runs down to the lower seatbelt mount where I fabbed up another pair of brackets. There will be 2 holes drilled in each; one bolts to the seatbelt bolt, the other is where the downtube mounts.
It will be easier to see once I get it a little further along but I haven't gotten to making the downtubes yet.
The main crossbar is done, I just need to fab a small camera mount for the center, and paint it up. I'm thinking about a matte black wrinkle finish paint or bumper coating. Here's where I am as of today including a few pics of it mocked up in the car:
I have a set of black Simpson 5-point harnesses that my dad gave me from his old race car with like 5 track days on them. NHRA requires new belts every 2 years even if they are in perfect condition so he had some lying around. Saved me a nice $100!
I will be updating this thread as I continue the project. Enjoy!
